Editor’s Choice — Top 10: Why Bill Gates Spends More Time Reading a Book He Dislikes

Let’s have a peek at our Top 10 stories today

Which one habit do Bill Gates, Barack Obama, Jack Ma, Elon Musk, and Warren Buffet share? All of them read for at least one hour every single day.

What happens when you start reading a book? You either like it, or you don’t. It may seem silly, but Bill Gates cannot leave a book once he starts reading it.

Bill Gates loves reading. He reads 50 books every year — or one book every week.

When you read all the good books, you develop a ‘spidey sense.’ This sense tells you the secret of reading the books you don’t like. Every book produces some questions and then tries to answer them.

If you like a book and you are an avid reader, you probably have an idea about its topic. When you don’t like what a writer is saying, it allows your mind to produce its own questions.

Bill Gates is an avid reader who loves to read almost all the good books. “I refuse to stop reading a book in the middle, even if I don’t like it,” Gates revealed to Time magazine. “And the more I dislike a book, the longer I take to write margin notes. That means I sometimes spend more time reading a book that I can’t stand than a book that I love.”

So, what can you learn from this habit of Bill Gates?

Good books offer you an opportunity to sit back, relax, and read about a topic. But the-not-so-good books inspire you to think on your own. They let you generate questions. You can then google those questions to get a better understanding of the points.

But how can reading the not-so-good books help you to write well?

Good writing is all about asking the right questions. As long as you possess this gift of pressing the right buttons, your reader will remain hooked.

“Reading is still the main way that I both learn new things and test my understanding.” ~Bill Gates

Bill Gates thinks if you see things differently from the author’s perspective, amazing things happen — in your body and mind.

“You don’t really start getting old until you stop learning,” Gates told Time magazine in the interview. “Every book teaches me something new or helps me see things differently. I was lucky to have parents who encouraged me to read. Reading fuels a sense of curiosity about the world, which I think helped drive me forward in my career and in the work that I do now with my foundation.”

If you develop your habit of reading well, your writing will benefit from it. If you don’t read a lot, your reader will know instantly. Stephen King says if you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time to write.

“Read 500 pages…every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.”~Warren Buffet

Here is a list of our top 10 stories today — by writers who can read well and write well:

10. Why Emotional Writing Might Ruin Your Text

Louis Petrik writes about finances, programming, and psychology. He is trying to figure out life, one idea at a time.

He is an excellent writer. His writing style is clever, charming, and very engaging. If you start reading his article, he’ll keep you hooked till the end.

Writing emotionally sounds positive.

You’re engaged in what you’re doing — that’s nice, but not the point. Writing too emotionally can ruin your text.

Here’s why and how you can prevent it.

9. Making Feedback Your Superpower as a Writer

Sid Khaitan is a brother, son, and friend. He is a writer and agency owner by night. He gets excited about market research, revenue growth, and leadership.

He is a superb writer. His writing style is honest, engaging, and informative. Do check his other work.

An old friend asks for honest input on their visibly horrible resume. You’re afraid this could ruin your friendship. Coworker offers unsolicited edits without context. You act like you never saw the email come in.

We’ve all been there before. If giving feedback is like pulling teeth, receiving it is like having your teeth pulled. How does one strike the balance between discomfort and dishonesty? Hopefully, this can help.

8. Three Surprising Benefits of Reading for Pleasure

Stela Gineva is a first-generation immigrant and former regional journalist based in the UK. Writing about diversity, politics, mindfulness, and productivity.

She is a good writer. Her writing style is elegant, frank, and engaging. Don’t forget to check her other work.

Reading for pleasure is no longer the popular pastime it used to be in the days before technology and the internet. There are far too many other distractions competing for our limited leisure time these days — Netflix, gaming, and YouTube to name a few.

7. Your Monthly Book Recommendations

Akarsh Nalawade is talkative. Easy-goer. Globetrotter. Quixotic. Polemic. Mind-changer. Tea Drinker. Nerd. He writes (mostly) about the books he reads.

He is a fine writer. His writing style is informative, engaging, and easy to follow. Do check his other work.

Two months down, ten more to go. Stay on course to hit your reading goals for 2021 by picking up these unputdownable books. Each will inform, entertain and delight you. You’ll recognise everyday mathematical quirks. You’ll harness the psychological power of moments. You’ll learn how to use the “hook model” employed by social media to grow your following. You’ll understand the love/hate relationship between technology and trust.

6. Stop Sending Email and Get out the Stationery

Pat Austin Becker is a consumer of life, ELA teacher, Louisiana ambassador, avid reader. Author of Cane River Bohemia: Cammie Henry and her Circle at Melrose Plantation (LSU Press).

She is an excellent writer. Her writing style is elegant, honest, and very engaging. Do check her other work.

For Christmas, my daughter signed us up for one of those letter services. It is one of those deals where every couple of weeks you get a letter from history and an explanation of its context. The letters are in the original form, whether typed or handwritten and so it is pretty cool.

5. Fiction is a Path to World Peace

Paul Coogan is a Project Manager, artist, and data visualization, and activist geek.

He is a fine writer. His writing style is easy to follow, informative, well-supported, and very engaging. You must read this one.

Neurological changes that occur while reading fiction suggest that reading fiction builds empathic thinking, and thus a shift in reading habits could help put the world on a path to peace.

4. I Don’t Believe in Morning Routines But I Believe in Finding your Purpose

Tom Handy is an investor writing his thoughts online. 7 million views on Quora.

He is an excellent writer. His writing style is simple, honest, and engaging. Do check his other work.

Asyou enter the month of March, you may need to find your purpose instead of following your boring morning routine. I won’t lie. I used to be a fan of morning routines.

At this time last year, my alarm clock would wake me up at 4 am. I would wake up and hit the gym.

3. Walt Disney: The Failures of an Early Entrepreneur

Francesco Joseph is a phlegmatic writing raconteur with a passion for the nonfiction genre, otherwise known as life.

He is a fine writer. His writing style is full of suspense, detail, and information. Don’t miss this masterpiece.

Today, when the word “Disney” comes to mind we tend to associate it with children’s cartoons, toys, theme parks, and a huge multi-billion dollar international evil conglomerate corporation that wants to take over the world, however, Disney was so much more than that, he was a real person, who had real problems and real struggles throughout his life.

Who was this man?

2. How Does A Black Person Know If A White Person Is Racist?

Rebecca Stevens A. says, “I write about racism, but there are so many other things I would like to write about instead. Help me dismantle racism so that I can get to that.”

She is an accomplished writer. Her writing style is honest, direct, and very engaging. Do check her other work.

This is a viral piece.

So yes, within 60 seconds of meeting you, most black people can tell whether you are racist or not. Here are some of the telltale signs:

The way you look at us. Some white people are just plain scared when they meet a black person. Guess what, it shows. We can see it on your faces, we can feel it from a mile off. You see, nonverbal cues — the subconscious involuntary signals that your body sends out are about 80 percent of the message you emit. It talks to the person in front of you before you even open your mouth.

1. How to Use the Bill Gates Method to Power Up Your Reading Habit

At number one, it is Kristina Segarra. She is a freelance health and wellness writer. She is a musician and mom of two boys.

She is an excellent writer. Her writing style is easy to follow, charming, and engaging. She is telling something about Bill Gates's method of reading.

Follow her. Read her. Wait for her next story.

Reading is one of Bill Gate’s greatest passions. He looks at reading as a way towards self-improvement and growth. He even created his Book Blog where he writes reviews and shares his reading experiences with others.

As an avid reader, he reads one book per week. As he reads each book, he takes an active approach and reflects on what he reads. Every book he reads helps him learn something new or view things from a different perspective.

This post is part of the Top 10 Series — you can meet 500+ top writers with these links:

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Final Thoughts

If your story was selected in the Top 10, please share another story with a brief introduction and a short convincing review — in the comments. (Please write the review in the third person and start it with your name.)

I must have missed something today. I cannot read every story on Illumination and Illumination-Curated. I try — and fail daily — to read all of the masterpieces.

Please join our private Facebook group for Illumination writers to post your articles daily. Also, I invite you to become a writer for my publication — positive minds.

Iꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ꜰɪɴᴅ ᴀɴʏ ᴍɪsᴛᴀᴋᴇ, ᴛʏᴘᴏ, ᴏʀ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴇʀʀᴏʀ, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ᴘʀɪᴠᴀᴛᴇ ɴᴏᴛᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ᴄᴏʀʀᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ. Tʜᴀɴᴋs.

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You can read my curated stories here.